Choices - 9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Even after two days, Liam couldn’t get his encounter with Alek off of his mind. If Alek wanted him back, why scold Nathan and Bryce? What was his motivation? The possibilities went around and around in his mind until he started to develop a headache. With a huff he climbed out of bed and stepped into the shower. This wasn’t the time for dissecting the motives of his ex-boyfriend. He had a physio appointment to keep.

“What’s on your mind?” Corey asked twenty minutes into his session. “You seem pretty distracted.”

“Just an interesting weekend,” he replied, wiping away the sweat on his forehead with a towel.

“Oh? What happened?”

Liam lay back against the leg press machine and started his next rep. “I went to Stages on Saturday night with Bryce and Nathan.”

“Bryce is in town again?”

Even in the distracted mood he was in, Liam couldn’t help but chuckle when Corey’s mouth tightened in a grimace. His boss was not a fan of Bryce’s. Of course, that could be because Bry had tried to flirt with both him and Jason when they’d first met. His friend’s personality tended to rub some people the wrong way.

“Did he hit on Nathan or something?”

“Well, yeah,” Liam confirmed with an amused smile, “but that’s not what’s bothering me.”

“Still no sparks between you and the paramedic then?”

“He’s becoming a good friend,” Liam hedged.

“Gotcha. You’re not sure if you’re interested yet. Enough said.”

Liam was grateful Corey didn’t press him further. He was tired of feeling the need to defend why he wasn’t ready to open his heart yet.

“So,” Corey continued. “If Bryce trying to get down Nathan’s pants wasn’t the issue, then what was? Something has you tied in knots.”

Liam finished his final set, and then rose from the machine the machine. His gaze turned to the front desk where the receptionist looked as though she was trying not to eavesdrop. “Can we talk in your office… if you have a few minutes?”

“Of course. I don’t have another appointment until after lunch, so we have plenty of time.” Corey walked toward his office, calling over his shoulder as he reached the doorway. “Shannon? If John from PhysioMed calls, tell him to fax or email his quote. I’ll contact him if I have any questions.”

Once they were seated on the comfortable couch, Liam wasted no time in relaying what happened with Alek, and running into Elena at the coffee shop. “I just don’t know what to think about any of it. Why would he lay into Nathan like that? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Is it possible he just wants to see you happy?” Corey asked gently, squeezing his shoulder. “I thought the amount of time he kept you in that closet with him was ridiculous, but I never doubted that he cared. Just because you weren’t right for each other doesn’t invalidate how you both felt.”

“I know,” Liam acknowledged. “I get that, but it was all so confusing. First he shows up at the hospital telling me he loves me, and now he’s scolding someone he thinks is my boyfriend and warning him not to hurt me? I don’t get it. What about his girlfriend? Could this have been some elaborate set-up to make me think he’s trying to protect me?”

Corey blew out a breath. “I don’t know what to tell you, Li. The only one who can answer those questions is Alek. Is it possible he knew you were there when he was talking to Bryce and Nathan? Sure, anything is possible, but from what you described he would have had to have eyes in the back of his head to know you were standing behind him.”

“I guess so….” Liam stood and started to pace around the small space. “Should I talk to him, or just drop it?”

“I can’t tell you that either. You have to decide if this is important enough to meet him face to face. At this point you’ve been getting what you said you wanted, and with the exception of a few minutes on Saturday night, he’s left you alone.”

Liam stopped his circuit and put his hands on his hips, eyeing his boss. “You’re no help.”

Corey laughed. “Sorry, but really, this is something you have to decide for yourself. Is it important enough for you to know or can you forget it happened and move on?”

He collapsed back onto the couch. “I don’t know. I guess I need to think about this some more. Part of me really wants to confront him and demand an explanation, but I don’t know if I want to open that door again.”

Corey patted Liam’s knee. “No one says you have to decide anything right now.” He looked up at the clock over the door. “I’m starved. What are you doing for lunch?”

“I don’t have any plans. Why? Where’s Jase?”

“He has a teleconference over the lunch hour with his head office, so I was just going to grab some leftovers at home. This can be a good excuse to have Annie’s apple pie. Would you like to come with me? I’d love more time to catch up. I’ve missed you around here.”

Liam smiled gratefully at the other man. “I’d love to. I’ve missed being able to work. Now that I’m not sleeping all day, I don’t know what to do with all the extra time. You can only dust so much, before you take the finish off of everything. Let me take a quick shower and we can go.”

Liam enjoyed the meal, and was happy to have someone to talk to besides his cat, who had taken to ignoring him at regular intervals. They chatted about the program Liam had applied for and what he should expect in terms of workload.

“Speaking of school,” Corey said when he pushed away his empty plate. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something.”

Liam tensed, wondering if the man was going to tell him he didn’t have room for him at the clinic after all.

“Don’t look so worried,” Corey teased. “It’s nothing bad. This will be good news, I hope.”

“Okay….”

“I want to help you pay for school. I know you said you’re going to apply for OSAP¹, but it won’t cover the whole cost of tuition and living expenses. I want to finance the rest of the cost.”

“What?” Liam realized how loud he’d shouted when several people around them stopped their conversations to stare. He smiled apologetically before turning back to his boss. “What do you mean you want to finance school for me? I can’t let you….”

“Now, hear me out,” Corey interrupted, raising his hands in front of him. “This isn’t going to be a gift. I talked it over with Jason, and I want to offer you a contract. I’ll help to pay for a portion of your schooling in exchange for your agreement to work for me during your summer breaks and for a minimum of three years after you graduate. Your starting salary would be negotiated once you’ve finished, but I can guarantee it would be on par with the industry standard.”

“Cor….”

“This is not a gift,” Corey repeated, “it’s good business. I know how competitive the market is. There aren’t enough new therapists to go around. I want to snap you up before anyone else realizes what a commodity you are.”

Liam could feel tears starting to burn in his eyes. He was going to cry. Dammit. “I don’t know what to say. This is too generous.”

“Just say thank you, and I can arrange to have Jason draw up something legal we can pretend we understand.”

Liam laughed. “I guess Jason would want to make sure everything was neatly typed and notarized.” He could feel his heart thumping in his chest. The idea of improving his education was becoming more of a reality with each passing day, and now this? “What if I can’t handle the program and flunk out?”

“That won’t happen,” Corey said, sounding very sure of himself. Liam opened his mouth but was stopped by Corey’s hand in the air. “However, if it would make you feel better: in the highly unlikely event you do drop out of school, or fail to obtain your degree, your job as receptionist would still be yours, and arrangements can be made in the contract to pay back the money already advanced. How does that sound?”

Liam felt a laugh bubbling up, and let it out. Jumping up from his chair he rounded the table and pulled Corey into a tight hug. “Thank you. I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t, Li. I have faith in you.”

After lunch Liam found himself walking through town, needing fresh air and space to burn off excess adrenaline. He was a ball of nervous energy. His boss’s offer was incredibly generous, and he knew he was very lucky to have the man in his corner. With the transcript ordered and his application submitted, he only had to wait for an acceptance, or a rejection letter. The woman in the Registrar’s office told him he’d missed the early admission deadline, but the next round of acceptances would be sent out within a month.

After several hours of aimless wandering, Liam was shocked to find himself outside of Alek’s garage. He was about to turn and leave when the sound of angry voices drifted out of the open bay door. Liam froze, afraid to move and bring attention to himself. Luckily, there were several vehicles in the lot partially blocking him from view.

“You will not do this, Aleksei. What am I to tell her parents?”

“It’s already done. You can tell them whatever the hell you want.”

“Do not speak to me in that tone. Natalia and her parents are invited for dinner on Friday. You will attend.”

The sound of clinking tools echoed loudly before Alek spoke again. “I won’t change my mind. We’ve talked about this.”

“You will fix this mess you’ve made. Your mother is very upset. She spent the entire weekend in tears.”

“I’m sorry she’s upset, but it changes nothing.”

“I won’t stand for this disobedience.”

“You don’t have a choice. I’m done.”

“Friday, Aleksei. You have until then to get this deviance out of your system. Do not make me regret giving you another chance.”

A door slamming and the sound of an engine starting was all the warning Liam had before a large black sedan roared out of the lot and onto the street. He watched the car as it disappeared around the corner before backing away, being careful not to be seen. His heart was beating painfully in his chest. What the hell had he just heard? What did it mean? It sounded as though Alek had broken things off with his girlfriend, and his parents weren’t happy about it. What else had he told them?

Although Liam’s instinct was to go to Alek and comfort him, he knew it might send a message he wasn’t prepared to give. He was too confused about his own feelings to be any good to his ex-boyfriend right now. Even if Alek had come out to his family, was he willing to let the man back in his life? Was it too late? God, he just didn’t know. So much had gone on between them; so much hurt had been inflicted that he wasn’t sure he could trust Alek with his heart again.

Self-doubt started to plague him as the overheard conversation replayed in his mind. If Alek had outed himself to his parents, why didn’t he say anything? There had been opportunity to do so on Saturday, when they bumped into each other at the bar. Did that mean Alek didn’t actually come clean about his sexuality, or was Corey right, and Alek was trying to respect his wishes? Why did everything have to be so damned complicated? God, he hated this indecisive person he’d become.

When he was safe from being seen, he started to jog in the direction of home, his walk over. He needed to process everything he’d heard, both today’s revelations and the incident on Saturday night. Before he’d made it halfway home, his phone buzzed with an incoming message from Nathan.

‘I don’t have to work until eleven. Join me for dinner? My treat.’

Torn, he stared at the message for a long time, barely seeing the scenery as he walked past. Nathan was a good man. A stable man who was comfortable in his own skin. He would treat Liam well, but was that enough? Deep down he knew he wasn’t over Alek, but he’d been hurt and wasn’t sure he could come back from that.

Choosing to take everyone’s advice, he decided to go with the flow and stop putting pressure on himself. If nothing else, Nathan was his friend, and friends were allowed to eat together. Taking a deep breath, he started typing. ‘Sure. Where do you want to meet?’

‘How about ‘The Grizzly’ at six-thirty? They make a great steak.’

‘Sounds great. See you then.’

With that done he pulled up his contact list. He had a few hours until he had to meet Nathan, and there was someone he needed to talk to. Now.

1. OSAP (Ontario Student Assistance Program) is a government operated student loan/grant program for Ontario College and University Students.

Thank you to my editor/beta/friend, Gary, for all of his support and advice.  I'm lucky to have him as a mentor.      Thank you to all of you who read and support this story.  

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